[Transfer Complete.]
[You have completed the tutorial.]
[Rewards]
1x Nara's Magic Mirror.
1 000 000 Yen/Gen.
[You have now a total of 650 000 Yen/Gen]
[Your Travel skill has leveled up. 1 > 2]
"——."
Slowly, the light that had enveloped him vanished.
He faced himself in the mirror. His eyes flooded with tears and his hair had been riddled with dirt and his clothes that had still reflected his gear.
[Vanadium Sword]
Kill Count: 1
He was still dyed in the color of dried blood, his face, his hands, and even the sword he had just dropped into the ground.
Everything that had happened, was true. However, why did it say it was a tutorial?
"Was it really just a game? And you survived it?!"
He asked himself, laughing at the face in the mirror that he scrutinized. A weakling that was saved by an NPC.
"This is—"
The door to one of the cubicles suddenly opens, with someone casually going beside him to wash their hands.
"——."
Ichiro remained silent as he observed the person through the mirror as if nothing was wrong, only looking at him with glances as he was one who just started uncomfortably.
Eventually, that person exited the restroom as his fading footsteps finally had let Ichiro act out his thoughts again.
Did that person pretend to not see anything?
He wondered, worried that he might get reported for looking suspiciously covered in blood.
Yet, the first that came to mind was to check the time.
It had been almost a month since he came to the other world, but here, it had only been five minutes.
"..."
He could only burst into laughter as he slams the sink, only to crack it with a light tap.
"Whoops. I guess that's broken."
He was unfortunate enough to witness an event that lead to indefinite deaths. He could only laugh his way out to cope with the sadness he felt.
He was finally back in Japan, but his heartfelt longing stayed. The remorse he needed to remove.
"...This is?"
In his closed hand, he was already holding something.
It was the locket that was given to him by Nara. The locket she gave him before she died.
"——. Nara."
He slowly opened it, and without even casting the skill, he had once again accidentally used [Inspect].
[Nara's Magic Mirror]
A locket that holds a magic mirror.
The picture to the right is almost unrecognizable due to the wear and tear but the mirror on the left side has the power of a magic mirror capable of bringing the user somewhere he thinks of as home.
It was the full description of it, and as it said, the picture inside the locker was indeed unrecognizable. It was Nara's mother but there was no way one would be able to make out the faded silhouette.
"...I'm sorry. I couldn't protect her."
He said as he held the locket, asking for forgiveness from the already dead.
There was no way his words could be heard, but it was something he needed to say. At least, to give himself peace of mind.
[The Black Hare is disappointed after missing the chance to corrupt your weakened mind.]
There was a prompt that came up after she sighed, only flipping the middle finger up as he had always cursed the system.
"Go fuck yourself."
He collapsed the notification, walking outside the restroom after dropping the Vanadium Sword at his status that served as spatial storage.
As he exited the restroom, he could finally see the varying lights of the station. The smell of people and air conditioning.
It was civilization.
He pulls out the phone he started to always keep by his pocket, turning it on to see the time.
It was 8:10 AM, which was previously 8:05 when he was teleported back to Carte.
"It had only been a month there, but five minutes here. That means one year there is one hour here."
He stared at the digital advertisements displayed on the walls, seeing foods and drinks alike being advertised.
It was then that in that whole month that he spend in another world, he had yet to eat a proper meal.
[Ichiro Mushibami Lv. 6]
• 1 550 000 Yen/Gen
He opened his status to see his available balance. It was more than enough for him to buy a decent meal.
"..."
"——. Uh, sir. Are you sure you can finish this all by yourself?"
He ended up in a fast-food restaurant, ordering a family meal that had cost him one thousand yen.
The meal was good enough for five people, but as Ichiro continued to chow down on his food, the waitress asked.
"Yes. Don't worry, I already paid."
Ichiro showed her the receipt he had as he switched from munching on burgers to fries, eating vigorously without a care in the world.
"T-That's not what I was worried about."
In case that he didn't notice, his body had been toned since he spend a month of training in Carte, however, the sadness he felt had distracted him from realizing so, only ending up eating and satisfying his stomach instead.
"——."
"Aren't you supposed to be working?"
The waitress took a seat in front of him, just staring right at him. Ichiro asked her out of her actions, which somehow proved to be uncomfortable for him.
"A guy like you, eating a lot alone...? I know this kind of pattern."
The waitress said with confidence, only pulling her cap down as if she thought it was cool to do so.
Ichiro only waited for her next words as he continues to eat.
"Your girlfriend left you, didn't she?"
With that one question, he stopped for a second, only to continue eating again.
"——."
"So, that's what happened?"
It was her wording that had put him off. It was how she said the word "left".
It was funny how she could be wrong and right at the same time, yet as to how much he wanted to forget that fleeting moment as a game, he was reminded of its horrors.
"Do you have no one else to bother?"
Ichiro said as he drops the bone of the fried chicken thigh he had munched on, looking at the waitress with dead eyes.
"Oh, well. As you can see we barely have any customers at this kind of hour. It must be because of the location—"
Ichiro pulled out his phone while the waitress kept on babbling.
It was 8:30 AM. It was still morning here.
"Thanks for the meal."
Ichiro stood up as he patted away the crumbs from his clothes, walking past the waitress who got distracted by her own stories.
"W-Wait! Aren't you gonna give me your number?!"
She said as she extended her arm from the seat she took, trying to idiotically reach Ichiro as he proceeded to the exit.
He didn't have time to fool around with girls like her.
It was a given that his face and appearance were a tad above the average, however, he would not forget about relationships easily like they were just a fling.
For him, Nara was someone he would have lived together with. But that became only a fantasy to dream of after her death.
"And here I thought civilization was going to give me peace of mind."
He uttered under his breath, cursing the remorse that kept on bugging him.
[Evolution is ready. You can cast this anytime to limit break your level cap.]
Warning: This will allow you to gain more levels than the current limit but will not let you learn any more skills.
"—Fucking!"
Reaching an alley, he dashed in to shout at the prompt that appeared. He wanted to punch it, he wanted to tear it apart. But it was nothing but a hologram that was part of the system he was cursed with.
"I leveled up, didn't I? This faulty system is just—!!"
"Agh! That fucking rich bastard will get it sometime soon!"
Suddenly, his anger was overlapped by another. It was the clanging of the trash bin that had been kicked in by the man that looked like a delinquent, along with two more that only seemed to follow him.
He had a black circle in his right eye as if he was sucker-punched in the face, as well as the others that looked like they were roughed up.
"Hah? There's someone here."
It was shortly after that Ichiro was noticed by those thugs, walking toward him.
"Oi, mate. You're right in time! I just need someone to beat u—"
Without even letting his words be done, Ichiro already drew his fists and launched another to his other eye. It was his courtesy to not hit what was vulnerable.
"Fuck right, I was thinking the same thing."
Their leader flew back as he crashes into the pile of trash, instantly unconscious.
Both of them looked back twice, and with a bit of hesitation, one of them came at Ichiro while the other ran to their boss.
"B-Boss!?"
He called out, but their boss was out cold with both of their eyes too swallowed to be opened anymore.
"How dare you do that!"
Dodging the attacks of the larger thug, Ichiro could only remember the footwork he had to come up with against Ron who came at him with a flurry of attacks.
Against rapid attack, there was only one way to counter.
"To receive one..."
"—Ha!"
Letting down one of his hands, Ichiro had deliberately let himself be hit to the side of the face, however, he didn't nudge.
"——!?"
"And give one back!"
He then punches the larger thug back to his face, only sending him flying as well to topple their boss and the other.
It was an easy win against three.
"If Chihiro was here, he'll fuck you up better than me."
Mentioning that very name, he realized that he could call him right now.
Yet, would he be able to even believe his stories of another world? It would be just a bad idea.
He shook his fists to wash off the dirt and sweat that stuck to them after hitting the thugs.
They were all piled up along with the garbage, unconscious and groaning out of pain.
Staying here any longer would be just a pain in the ass, and so he took off, to Shibuya City square.